Did it bother anyone else that...
... Chris Walken and the other guys character were laughing hysterically at the horrible and old material of Williams? It's not THAT funny...
Then again, I never liked Robin Williams stand up :/
I laughed at most of it. but maybe thats because I love robin williams as an actor and comedian.
shareI love Robin Williams's stand-up and I'm a big fan of him as an actor but I also didn't find the material in this film funny and thought scenes of people laughing at him were awkward.
This is always a problem when people make movies about comedians. Even if someone is funny in real life, the material they may have in their movie could be flat because of the writers (or just because the comedian is not at their best).
Williams usually had a lot of freedom during scenes like that in these roles. A director didn't cast him as a comedic character in expectations of controlling him. They wanted him to do his thing.
That said, while his character was a comedian by trade, the movie is not a comedy and that's where many people get confused or angry because the film didn't make them laugh as much as, say, Mrs. Doubtfire.
Williams was a Julliard trained actor. While he was very very funny, his skills as a dark and compelling character was a just as good, of not better. In MotY he had to combine those acting skills. It was a far-fetched what-if movie, but considering how much hacking is going on these days it doesn't really seem that far-fetched.